Geekend evolves in fourth year

BiS Connect

The Geekend reboot is about to commence.

The fourth annual interactive conference for “creative designers, developers and social media geeks” boasts new leadership, new venues and a “new attitude,” according to organizer Sloane Kelley. She took over as the event’s executive director earlier this year after her fellow co-founders, Jake and Miriam Hodesh, left the organization.

“Sloane has done an incredible job of keeping up with the pulse of the technology around us,” said Joe Ippolito, head of the local firm RiverHorse Internet Marketing and a board member of Geekend’s parent organization, Thinking Cap Inc.

“This year’s Geekend is going to be extremely interactive,” Ippolito said. “Technology evolves daily, and Geekend is adapting along the same lines.”

Geekend opens Thursday with a reception at the Moon River Brewing Company. The event continues through Saturday at the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art and the Coastal Georgia Center.

The conference is “tracking toward” 600 attendees, Kelley said, a turnout in line with the previous three years.

Lectures by three leaders of America’s creative community will highlight the conference. The creative director for the FX television network’s animated series “Archer,” Neal Holman, will speak Friday morning followed by Kickstarter co-founder Charles Adler on Friday evening.

Kevin Curry, program director for the Code for America Brigade, will close the conference on Saturday. Code for America bills itself as a “peace corps for civic-minded geeks” and recruits web developers to work with municipalities across the country on projects that can benefit from Web-based solutions.

Geekend’s program, meanwhile, is arguably more technical than in the previous three years. Session topics include utilizing specific software and application products, such as Tumblr, RFID, CoffeeScript and Pinterest.

Kelley will incorporate more activities into the schedule to give attendees a chance “to get out of the conference space and experience Savannah in a “tech-forward way.” Geekend has partnered with Old Savannah Tours for an Instagram outing, local printing shop The Soda Shop on a letterpress demonstration and will also feature “meet-ups” for professionals in social media and design

“In putting this year’s Geekend together, we really wanted to make sure we were creating experiences that speak to every type of audience,” Kelley said.

IF YOU GO: GEEKEND 2012

Thursday through Saturday

SCAD Museum of Art and Coastal Georgia Center

Tickets: $225, $85 students and military

* Visit www.geek-end.com for the conference schedule and to register for the event